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"Psst..." Daitza whispers, bumping you with her elbow. "Is he gonna help us or not?"
"We've got this, Datz" you say, which gets a grin of satisfaction from her. "Ah, cool."
With a long-drawn sigh, the humielet proceeds to explain his proposal. "Truth is… t-there IS something you can do for m-me in the mi-mines, my friends. And I… I would re-reward you i-immensely if you did. Oh, b-by the way… I’m Gondar Swordshaper. A pl-pleasure to meet y-you.” Wow! What’s with this sudden change of attitude?
Well, you might as well introduce yourself too. This dwarf ain’t so bad after all. “I’m Hyenus, and this is my mate Daitza.” Datz realizes you’re greeting each other and exchanges friendly nods with Gondar. You glance at the deerman, who returns an uninterested look at you. “Hey. You're Mervis, right?” The servant says nothing in response. From the way he scrutinizes you, looking you up and down with its lips slightly curled, you get the hunch this prey not only dislikes you – it thinks of itself as *superior*. This irritates you greatly, so before you consider turning it into your lunch out of spite, you ignore the arrogant prick and stare back at the smith. “Quiet guy, huh?”
“A quiet one, indeed. Now, back to my story…” the dwarf says, clearly more interested in talking about his problems. He walks out the forge for a moment to check both ways, verifying that there’s nobody prying about, and goes back inside. “M’kay, gnog- gnolls. What I’m about to tell you must *not* leave this room. This also goes to you, Mervis.” The servant shrugs and resumes its work, showing no interest in the conversation.
Before you can ask what’s all the secrecy for, Gondar is speaking already. “A’ight, I’ll g-get to the p-point. I’m… I’m constantly haunted b-by a <span class="mu-s">demon</span>.” He nods. “Yes… a d-demon that takes the f-form of a young g-girl made the abandoned mi-mines its home. God knows how it got there in the first place, b-but I’ve been having n-nightmares with that cr-creature for FIVE months s-straight, a-and it’s starting to take its toll on me...”
There is a demon in those tunnels! You KNEW it wasn’t a good idea to venture in there unarmed. You can’t wait to see Datz’ face when you tell her this. Heh heh heh…
“I-I didn’t always s-s-stutter my w-words, ya know? W-well, now I d-do… because t-that d-demon CURSED me. Took a w-weird obsession w-with me for n-no reason, NO r-reason.” He lowers his head, looking down at his feet. “I-I didn’t d-do anything to deserve this… I’ve f-followed Anu’s principles b-by heart my whole life. I p-pay my tithes, I say all my d-daily prayers, I tr-treat my fellow br-brothers in faith well, I w-work my ass off to k-keep this f-fortress armed t-to the t-teeth… I… I am a flawless Anustian! I-I’ve d-done SO much for e-everyone! I am fr-free of s-sin! So W-WHY is Anu a-allowing this t-to happen to me?! Why?!”
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